Mid-City: Checking Out Chic Wine Bar

Last month was a busy month of birthdays. For a friend’s birthday, I checked out Chic Wine Bar. It’s one of my friend’s local favorites. At the time, their website wasn’t completed yet so the menu was a bit mysterious. Reviews seemed favorable though.

We got a bottle of wine and some nibbles before deciding on our meal.

 

Our server was friendly and made a recommendation for the wine. It was funny to me since I go with the flow and will drink whatever my friends want. They had decided they wanted a bit of a bolder red wine so we ended up with a Bordeaux.

 

Served with chorizo coco beans and espelette, the grilled jumbo shrimp were fine. We were more into the house bread and olives and nuts.

 

A friend chose the parpadelle with lamb ragu. She had it before but said it was better previously. It’s always a disappointment when you order something you really like only to to end up not as impressed. It was a bit of a foreshadowing of things to come.

 

The gay boyfriend has the kabocha pumpkin ravioli. He liked it but I thought the pasta itself was a bit dried out.

 

One of the specials that night was the bouillabaisse. I love nothing more than a big bowl of seafood. Sadly, I wasn’t getting much flavor. The shrimp were on the smaller side as were the mussels. I didn’t say anything though because it was my friend’s birthday and it was her choice. We later had a talk and she that night was definitely an off night for the kitchen because this was one of the least memorable visits.

 

She got her favorite branzino. We are waiting to see where Chef Ben Bailley ends up because she still cites that’s her favorite branzino (known also as loup de mer).

 

The evening was saved for me as the Brussels sprouts with pine nuts and shitake mushrooms  were wonderful.

Overall, I didn’t really mind the misses but I’m not rushing back anytime soon.

 

Chic Wine Bar

5545 W Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90019  — (323) 525-0234

© The Minty  2012